Nowadays, sport provides an opportunity for friendly cooperation among different countries which is based on contribution of all nations and individuals in the natural form of sport. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compile a framework of sport diplomacy in Islamic Republic of Iran armed forces. The methodology of present study is Grounded Theory (GT) having qualitative approach which is applied in terms of purpose using semistructured interviews for data collection. Participants in this study included officials of Ministry of Sport and Youth, the National Olympic and Paralympic Committee, sport federations, sport science professors, foreign ministry experts and great managers of armed forces who aware of sport and public diplomacy which 21 of whom were selected through purposeful sampling. The tool of this research was semi-structured interviews that continued until theoretical saturation stage. The reliability and validity of findings were determined by dependability, reliability and generalizability. Grounded theory qualitative approach was used to analyze the data for open, axial and selective coding. Based on the results, 128 initial conceptual propositions with 31 main categories in six dimensions of paradigm model were identified including causal conditions (5 main concepts), contextual factors (6 main concepts), confounding factors (6 main concepts), strategies (7 main concepts) and the consequences (7 main concepts). The proposed theory was also defined as "Increase the importance of development of military sports diplomacy as a tool for strengthening military diplomacy in other areas of the armed forces' mission and, consequently, the development of public diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran". Finally, it is suggested that the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces pay special attention to sports diplomacy in order to strengthen their mission areas.

In the quantitative analysis of the research, the structural equation method with the PLS approach has been used. The results of the present study showed that; 25 micro actives were extracted through interviews, these factors were divided into 5 categories: cultural, managerial, legal, human, and communication-technological factors. The research results showed that; among the factors affecting the development of the humanitarian aid supply chain through popular athletes, managerial factors had the most role and importance (impact = 0.983; T-factor = 427.756). This highlights the importance and necessity of management platforms for the development of the humanitarian aid supply chain through popular athletes.